“So you are the asshole putting me out of a job, huh? After inviting you into our home, and you dating my sister…This is how you repay me. By lying and hiding who you really are?”
My eyes close tightly, and I wish that I were anywhere else but here. “Wait, what?” Jon replies. “Lizzy, what is he talking about? And keep your voice down, please.”
If the employees didn’t already know about Jon and me, they sure do now, and it wouldn’t take long to go through the grapevine. This is it. There goes my job…my relationship.
“My family is going to perish, and it’s all your fault,” Karl goes back at him with a pointed finger. “Your company is buying the company we work for. The one we’ve worked our asses off for. You are going to ruin everything. That…that is what I’m talking about. And you.”
Karl turns to me with his finger pointing directly in my face, but it’s no longer anger I see in his eyes…
It’s betrayal.
“This is your fault as well as it is his. You knew about it all along and never said a thing. Do we mean that little to you, Elizabeth?”
It’s like a knife to the heart hearing my full name fall from his mouth. He only says my full name when he is deeply hurt or mad. I really, really messed up this time.
“Alright, can we just calm down?” Jon breaks up the stare fest going on between my brother and me.
Karl turns back to Jon, and for a moment, he just stares at him. I worry that he will swing, but instead, he shakes his head. “Fuck you, Jon!” he shouts and turns in a hurry, practically running out of the building.
I’m stunned. I knew that eventually I would have to face all of this head-on, but I never imagined it blowing up this badly. I feel the tears rearing up, and I can’t stop them as they stream down my cheeks while I stare at the doors that Karl just stormed through.
“Lizzy,” Jon says as he steps in front of me now. “What the hell was that all about?”
My mouth opens, and nothing but a soft sob comes out as I drop the papers that I was holding onto the floor and bury my face in my hands.
“Come on,” he whispers, putting his arm around me and guiding me into his office. We pass by the other employees, and they drop their eyes the moment Jon looks at them. They already got a show and now know everything we both worked so hard to conceal. So what’s the use of pretending?
Once he gets me into his office, he closes the door and locks it so there won’t be any interruptions. “Okay, now please tell me what the hell that was all about.”
“Jones Construction,” I begin, wiping my tear-soaked cheeks with a tissue from the box on his desk. “My brother and father both work there and have for a long time. I knew that you were buying it and that they might lose their jobs, but I didn’t say anything to you or them. Even when they found out it was being sold, I kept it to myself because I didn’t want what just happened to happen.”
The words fall out of me like a roaring spring, and I can’t stop. “I wanted to tell you about it, and maybe there would be something you could do, but I was afraid of losing my position with you. I was scared that you would drop me as your assistant, or as your girlfriend.”
The realization hits that everyone in the company will now know what’s going on between us, and I feel crushed. “I’m so sorry Karl blew that cover,” I speak again, tears now rolling down my face. I’ve failed Jon, and I don’t think I deserve to be with him.
His face looks stunned as I break down in front of him. I just released weeks of pent-up words onto him, and now, on top of that, my brother came to his company and threatened him. I’d be surprised if he didn’t let me go on the spot.
I never expected this big of a blowout, and I want to go back in time. I would have said something the moment I knew about Jon buying Jones Construction, and I would have tried to put a stop to it. Although even now I don’t think that it would’ve done anything.
This is Jon’s whole life. Who am I to tell him what to do and whose company to buy?
He stays silent for a moment and runs a hand through his hair, messing it up slightly before sighing. “Lizzy,” he says exhaustedly. “You really thought you couldn’t come to me?”
I shake my head no. “I didn’t want to lose this job, and I didn’t want to lose you.”
He chuckles, catching me off guard. How could he find any of this funny?
Reaching forward, he grabs me and pulls me tight against his chest. I wrap my arms tightly around his waist. “I would never dream of dropping you, Lizzy.” As he reassures me, more tears flow.
I need to learn to open myself up completely around him, but it’s hard to trust anyone in this world with my whole heart.
25
ELIZABETH
Why can’t this day just end already?
I scoff as I check my phone for the millionth time. It’s been a week since Karl showed up to my job and caused a scene. Surprisingly, the blowup hadn’t caused any controversy here in the office, at least none that I’ve heard.
